Remember the good old days of film?

[Repro_Pro]

Coating wet emulsion onto glass plates first, that will nicely round up the gratification...
However, the practical reality is that photographic processing of imaged films is still in demand but became harder to find.
Hence, revitalizing old equipment became necessary.

 

[Alois Senefelder]

Repro - Pro.


Well done - for remembering "Glass Plates"



The benefit of "Hindsight is wonderful" I wished I'd remembered "Secruity Inks"


Alois

 

[Repro_Pro]

Participating in forum discussions certainly helps stirring memories.

 

[Slammer]

if you really wanna take a stroll down memory lane and glorify the good ole days why dont you dump film processor and go with tray developing.

I suppose it will date me most horribly if I were to mention "Staromat" and "Diatronic" as well as "Stripfilm" and "Blutlaugensalz" red and yellow (Kaliumhexacyanidoferrat, don´t know what you call it in the english speaking bits of the world) By the way just heard today that the parts I ordered will be ready "another" next week.

 

[Slammer]

Rubylith and Amberlith, respectively.

Rubylith, yes, that was the brand name on the bottle if I remember, but we called it Blutlaugensaltz or blood alkaline salt.

 

[Repro_Pro]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Rubylithis a brand of masking film, invented and trademarked by the Ulano Corporation. Today the brand has become genericized to the point that it has become synonymous with all coloured masking films.

Rubylith consists of two films sandwiched together. The bottom layer is a clear polyester backing sheet; the top layer is a translucent, red-(ruby-)coloured, sheet. The top layer can be cut with a knife and peeled away from the bottom layer. The top layer's colour is light-safe for orthochromatic films (which are sensitive to blue and green light but insensitive to red light).

 

[Slammer]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Rubylithis a brand of masking film, invented and trademarked by the Ulano Corporation. Today the brand has become genericized to the point that it has become synonymous with all coloured masking films.

Rubylith consists of two films sandwiched together. The bottom layer is a clear polyester backing sheet; the top layer is a translucent, red-(ruby-)coloured, sheet. The top layer can be cut with a knife and peeled away from the bottom layer. The top layer's colour is light-safe for orthochromatic films (which are sensitive to blue and green light but insensitive to red light).

True, my memory is playing tricks with me it would seem, but then again, it was a loong time ago.

 

[Slammer]

So, I´ll bet you have all been waiting with bated breath for the next gripping instalment of Slammer and the processor.

Well I got the new parts and it only took another five they-will-be-ready-next-week´s. But I got them and they fit, they fit actually quite well and that is the main thing.

One other problem reared it´s ugly head; one of the gear wheels was missing from the fixer rack, the one that drives the entire lower roller bunch. So I have had one printed. Just picked it up today and it looks really nice, it was copied from one of the originals and rendered with a carbon reenforced nylon filament. It fits and it works.

I must admit though that I screwed the documentation up regarding the fuse box and wring, but I now have a wiring diagram for that processor and it should be a simple thing, I am however getting my colleague onto the act, he is an electrician and it should be even simpler. We will see.

 

[Repro_Pro]

Great, this update is relieving some of the tension...
Good luck.
BTW, concerning the developing speed issue - there is a workaround I remember we did a long time ago:
use the (shorter) Fixer rack in the developer section.
Naturally, you need an extra Fixer rack for this trick...

 

[Slammer]

Got everything back together, at least mechanically, I did manage to swap the guides and put the wide ones on top and the thinner ones on the bottom with the result that the fixer rack would only turn in one direction, the wrong one. For that it got its self stripped down again and put back together the correct way, now it turns freely both backwards and forwards. I slipped it into it´s bath and now I am able to turn the main drive shaft with one finger on the main gear, dev, fix, water and dryer, all nice and free, until "CLUNK" damn fixer jumps off the worm gear, not always, just every now and then. So close and yet so far.

 

[Repro_Pro]

Worm gear jumps are usually a result of resistance from inside the rack or that one (or more) of the teeth on the gear/wormgear is worn/broken.

 

[Slammer]

Worm gear jumps are usually a result of resistance from inside the rack or that one (or more) of the teeth on the gear/wormgear is worn/broken.

That is true, there was one tooth broken off on the rack gear, it was a fresh break so I assume that it came from the false set film guides, however I swapped it with the gear from the water bath and get the same result, it seems to turn freely without any resistance but after three turns I can feel the resistance building until it jumps. As I said all rollers are free and turn easy, gonna swap the racks and see if it still jumps. I did notice a build up of ancient crud on the rack side of the gear so I am assuming that the rack was never seated correctly and indeed it will not go in the bath without a bit of wiggling. You know you are on the right track when you start to solve the old problems of a machine.
Then I need to see my friendly neighbourhood 3D printer for a new worm gear.

 

[Alois Senefelder]

Hello Slammer,

Why not try obtaining Gears etc from "Off the shelf Mechanical Gear Suppliers", I would bet that G&J when they designed the Film Processer they bought in the various machanics

They certainly didn't invest in Gear Cutting Machines when there was no need !

Regards, Alois

 

[Slammer]

Hello Slammer,

Why not try obtaining Gears etc from "Of the self Mechanical Gear Suppliers", I would bet that G&J when they designed the Film Processer they bought in the various machanics

They certainly didn't invest in Gear Cutting Machines when there was no need !

Regards, Alois

Took a look at what they have to offer, I know a worm gear when I see one, I can count the teeth and maybe get the angle but then it gets gritty:

• Bore Typelain
• Number of Start:1
• Nominal Lead Angle:2°36'
• Hand of Thread:Right Hand
• Reduction Ratio:30
• Module:0.5
• No. of teeth :30

Perhaps if I had gone into engineering instead of printing I may be able to make head or tails of this. Have to ask somebody. But I certainly bookmarked the page.